The Boys Who Lived
by BlackPaperMoon82462
Summary: When Harry gets lost in the maze of hallways at Hogwarts, who does he happen to meet? A ghost named Edward Elric. What was so important that the teen became a ghost for? Twoshot.
1. Meeting

**A/N: I know I should be working on my other fic, but this is a little pet project I've had going for a while and I finally finished it. :) Like I said in the description, this is going to be a twoshot, but it ****_can be read as a oneshot_****. I just have a plan for something else I want to do with this later.**

**HP timeline: Order of the Phoenix**

**FMA timeline: Post Conqueror of Shamballa, but no spoilers for Brotherhood fans**

**Rating/Warnings: Er... the word 'bastard' is used twice, but other than that, it should be K+. Though I put it as T to be safe.**

**Disclaimer: Yep, I was born in Japan with the name Hiromu Arakawa and created Fullmetal Alchemist, then I moved to Britain, changed my name to J. K. Rowling, and wrote the entirety of Harry Potter before I moved to an undisclosed location to write fanfics about my two works with the alias Moon. Seems legit.**

Harry stormed down an empty corridor, not paying attention to where he was going. He was so _sick_ of being thought of as a liar! Voldemort was _back_ and he'd _killed_ Cedric! Why would no one believe him!? After a few minutes, he'd calmed down enough to realize that he'd done the one thing that you never want to do at Hogwarts.

He'd gotten lost.

Harry was about to turn around and attempt to retrace his steps when he saw something ahead. Peering closer, he saw that it was a person. _'Thank god!_' he thought, relieved. "Hey!" he called out to the person, "Hey, can you help me?" He started jogging towards the person. Now that he was closer, Harry could see that the person was a boy with long, blond hair pulled into a braid. '_Weird_,' he thought absently. When the boy turned, Harry almost gasped. He could see through him! Then he mentally slapped himself. _'Ghost. Duh.'_

"Yeah?" the boy asked in a slightly exasperated voice, as if annoyed at being interrupted.

Harry was at a loss for words. "Er... I got lost and was wondering if you could help me find my way back to a main hall?" The way he said it, it sounded like a question.

"Tch." The ghost looked him up and down before nodding. Then he turned and walked in the opposite direction. When Harry didn't follow, he turned back and asked, "You coming?"

"Y-yeah."

They walked in silence for a while before Harry, feeling awkward, tried to start a conversation. "So... What's your name?"

"Edward Elric. Just call me Ed though," the ghost replied softly. "But I already know who _you_ are. Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived. Ha. Bet you feel like you don't deserve the title, huh? Feel like you survived at the cost of others, so you aren't really the hero?"

Harry blinked in surprise. "Yeah. That's exactly what it's like. How'd you know?" Not even Ron and Hermione knew how he felt about it.

Ed laughed humorlessly. "I've been through a lot of situations like that." _'Especially that night_,' Ed added mentally, _'Al shouldn't have lost what he did. But I guess in a way, me, Al, and this Harry kid are all Boys Who Lived.'_

The conversation lapsed into silence for a while before Harry asked tentatively, "So what's your reason?" At Ed's raised eyebrow, he continued hurriedly, "Every ghost has a reason they haven't moved on yet. What about you?"

The blond ghost sighed. "First, that's a very personal question that could seriously offend some ghosts." Harry flushed in embarrassment. "But I don't care. My brother and I are ghosts because we're here to make sure that something never happens. Do you know about the Philosopher's Stone?"

Harry nodded in slight confusion at the apparent subject change. Of course he knew about it; his whole first year had pretty much revolved around it. But what did this ghost and his unknown brother have to to with it?

"Do you know how it's made?"

Harry shook his head. "Now that Nicholas Flamel is dead, only Dumbledore knows that."

The ghost seemed to sigh with relief. "That bastard finally died? Good riddance."

Harry could only gape at his guide's rudeness. "You shouldn't talk that way about the dead!"

Ed raised his eyebrows and looked pointedly down at his body. His ghostly, spirit body. "Right. Well, the bastard deserves whatever he got and more. I know how a Philosopher's Stone is made, Harry, and it's not pretty."

"What is it made of?" Harry asked with curiosity and a little apprehension.

The Elric ghost snorted. "Like hell I'll tell you. My job is to make sure that no one finds out about it." He gained a sad, faraway look in his eyes. "It costs so much just to get it. But then it's capable of ruining so many _more_ innocent lives in the wrong hands. There's a reason it's called the Devil's Research."

When Ed had finished that sentence, both boys realized that they were in a main corridor. Harry was about to say goodbye when a young voice called to them from down the hall. "Brother! There you are! I've been wandering for _hours_ trying to find you!"

Harry turned to the voice, only to see a blur of blond hair charge past him and leap towards Ed. He could only watch in astonishment when he saw that the person -ghost- looked almost exactly like his guide. '_That must be his brother_,' Harry realized.

Ed grinned, shoving his brother off. "Al, this is Harry," he said by way of introduction.

The boy seemed to finally register Harry's presence. "Oh! Sorry, I didn't notice you. I'm Alphonse Elric, but you can call me Al," he said with a bright smile.

"Nice to meet you," Harry responded, "I'm Harry Potter."

"The Boy-Who-Lived, huh?" Al replied with a grin. "Pretty cool."

Harry smiled genuinely. It was nice to talk to people who didn't faun over him or call him a liar at first sight. He turned to Ed, "Thanks for helping me out. It was great meeting you guys, but if I don't leave soon..."

"You'll miss dinner," Ed finished with a wolfish grin. "Don't worry about it. Come on, Al," he said, beckoning his brother to follow, "We have to go see the old man. Apparently, he hasn't been keeping us up-to-date on news about the Stone."

Both brothers scowled. But then they smiled at Harry and walked away to find the Headmaster's office. They waved until they were out of sight.

Harry spent the rest of the evening musing on what the Philosopher's Stone was made of, but didn't ask Dumbledore. If the secret was important enough for two people to become ghosts over, he figured he should let it be.

He didn't even notice the whispers and glares the other students send his way that night. He completely forgot about being the Boy-Who-Lived. He just sat there remembering those two blond ghosts and the unnerving expressions they'd worn while discussing the Stone.

**A/N: Gah, now I'm nervous! Was anyone OOC? Did it make sense? Should I write the next part or do you just want me to leave it like this? REVIEW TO TELL ME OR I MIGHT GO CRAZY(ER)!**


	2. Goodbyes

**A/N: Dang, I typed this out ****_way_**** faster than I thought I would... Now, who's ready for a mix between fluff and sadness with a hint of humor? Everyone got your Kleenex boxes? You might need them.**

**HP timeline: End of Deathly Hallows. Right after Harry talks to Dumbledore at King's Cross Station**

**FMA timeline: Still post-Conqueror of Shamballa (still safe for Brotherhood)**

**Rating/Warning: The words 'ass', 'hell', and 'whore' are used once or twice. I blame Ed.**

**Disclaimer: The three italicised lines directly below this disclaimer are a direct quote from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling. I do not own them or any of the characters in this fanfic except one person that is mentioned at the end.**

_"Tell me one last thing," said Harry. "Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?"_

_Dumbledore beamed at him, and his voice sounded loud and strong in Harry's ear even though the bright mist was descending again, obscuring his figure._

_"Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?"_

Blinking, Harry expected that he would return to his body after the departure of the former Headmaster, but that wasn't the way things happened.

Harry's eyes widened a bit when he heard a pair of voices from somewhere within the fog. They seemed vaguely familiar, like someone he had met long ago and had since forgotten. The two voices were calm and seemed to be chatting amicably with each other. He had to stifle a gasp when the two figures emerged from the silver mist in front of him. When he'd first met the duo, Harry had believed them to have matching blond hair and light colored eyes, but now that they weren't the pale, see-through ghosts he had known them as, he could tell that their hair and eyes were definitely not the dull colors he had thought they were. They were _golden,_ plain and simple.

Standing in front of him, grinning proudly, were Edward and Alphonse Elric.

"Well, if it isn't the Boy-Who-Lived!" Ed called happily, smiling wider than Harry had ever seen him smile. (Though, they _had_ only met once)

"Twice!" Al corrected his brother, seeming ready to hoot with joy.

Despite the seriousness he had felt during his talk with Dumbledore, Harry found himself grinning as well. "I haven't seen you guys in almost two years! How are you doing?"

The brothers glanced at each other, smirking like they had a secret. Ed ended up answering. "Are you kidding? The one guy who knew how to make the Philosopher's Stone is dead, and the only person who is capable of figuring it out is about to die!"

"And then we won't have any reason to stay here," Al concluded, sighing contentedly.

Harry's eyebrow rose. Dumbledore himself had just said that Harry wasn't going to die, so that only left... "The only one who could figure it out? You mean Voldemort?"

"Yep," the Elrics answered at the same time.

Harry became a little worried, "And then you'll... cross over? Aren't you guys scared of what might happen?"

Al beamed. Ed gazed at the raven-haired teen with solemn, yet still somehow lively, golden eyes. "Do you know where people go once they die?"

Harry shook his head.

Ed's next two words shocked the wizard. "We do."

"And let's just say we'll be seeing a lot of old friends," Al told him.

"How do y-" Harry began, but Ed shot him a warning look, telling him that there were some things they wouldn't share. Harry asked another question instead. "How can you be sure I'll be able to kill Voldemort? For all I know, I could have been killed while I was here because Voldemort decided to _Avada Kedavra_ me again just to make sure I actually stay dead this time."

Ed snorted. "First, you definitely aren't dead."

"And second," Al continued, eyes narrowed slightly at the famous teen, "if you _are_ dead, you're sure as hell gonna fight it and come back to life. Because there's no way I'm going to let you just disappear when everyone needs you, leaving everyone to wonder what happened to you."

Ed looked at Al with an apologetic, regretful expression. Then, he turned back to Harry. "And third, if you don't kill Voldemort, I'll haunt your ass for the rest of your life _and_ afterlife."

All three grinned.

"Now get back to reality and kick Moldymort's ass," Ed ordered.

"Voldewart," Al corrected, grinning mischievously.

The duo walked away again, listing off the many ways to insult the great, powerful Dark Lord's name.

"Moldywhore!"

"Voldesnort!"

"Moldyshorts!"

"Shortymort."

"WHO'RE YOU CALLING SHORTER THAN FILIUS FLITWICK!?"

The brothers' laughter took several minutes to fade away. Then, very quietly, Harry heard Al ask, "Hey, Brother? Do you think we'll get to see Winry when we get back?" Ed's reply was lost in the mist the brothers had walked into, but Al had sounded so hopeful -so _yearning_- that Harry felt his heart clench and found himself desperately wishing they would be reunited with this Winry girl.

And _then_ Harry woke up in the real world.

_*Nineteen and three-quarters of a year later*_

A few months after Albus had gone to his first year at Hogwarts, a certain witch and wizard were surprised to find that they had another child on the way. When the baby arrived, they were shocked to find that their new little girl had hair that was neither Ginny's firey-red nor Harry's raven-black color. Instead, she had a mop of soft, blonde hair. It wasn't quite the brilliant gold the two ghost brothers had had, but Harry knew exactly what he would name his baby girl in that moment.

Winry Elric Potter grew up to teach Muggle Studies at Hogwarts, where she was mostly interested in muggle chemistry and mechanics. No one on the magical side of the Gate knew why she was so intrigued by them, but if a certain pair of golden blond alchemists had seen her, they would have beamed with pride.

**A/N: *sniffles* Am I the only one who teared up a bit at the end? Someone review to tell me so I don't think I'm a hopeless sap.**

**EDIT: Winry Potter is a blonde because... Er, I felt like it? Magic is weird. *shrugs* As for your theories on why she was blonde: Ginny definitely did _not_ have and affair with the Elrics (O.o) and she may or may not have been reincarnated. That one is up to your imagination. ;)**


End file.
